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Vladimir Putin wants to talk to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan about limiting Ukrainian grain exports to Europe. The EU exhibits “colonial behavior”, says Putin.
At the same time, there are reports of an imminent meeting between Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
During the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Russian president accuses Ukraine of shipping most of its grain to EU countries instead of to “the poorest developing countries”, Russian Interfax reports.
Many European countries exhibit “colonial behavior” and have once again failed the developing countries, says Putin.
– This could lead to a global humanitarian disaster. Maybe we should think about restricting the transportation of grain and foodstuffs along this route, he says, adding that he will consult President Erdogan on the matter.
Tributes junta chief
Ukraine, one of the world’s largest exporters of grain, was forced to halt almost all of its shipments after Russia’s invasion of the country. Exports resumed in July after an agreement was reached between Kyiv and Moscow, with the UN and Turkey as guarantors.
During the Vladivostok conference, the increasingly sanctioned Putin praises the cooperation with countries in the Asia and the Pacific region – including with Myanmar’s hard-line junta leader Min Aung Hlaing – and calls the “sanctions fever” in the West an aggressive attempt to deprive other countries of their sovereignty.
– No matter how much someone wants to isolate Russia, it is impossible to do so, says Putin.
Meet Xi Jinping
He further denies that Russia would use energy as a “weapon against Europe”.
Meanwhile, Russian state media reports that Putin and China’s leader Xi Jinping will meet during a summit in the Uzbek Samarkand next week. It will be the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the two have met, as well as Xi’s first trip outside of China since the pandemic outbreak.
Putin and Xi have a lot to discuss, Russia’s China ambassador Andrey Denisov told Russian reporters.
– We are planning a serious, full-fledged meeting between our two leaders and are working on a detailed schedule with our Chinese partners.